Powerful ideas

What do universities, hospitals and civic centres all have in common?  They are all excellent candidates for small scale combined heat and power (CHP) plants.  The Ontario Clean Air Alliance’s latest fact sheet, Places of Power, looks at the benefits of CHP systems for reducing costs and environmental impacts in the institutional and municipal sector.

The fact sheet includes four case studies: the University of Toronto’s St. George Campus, Ottawa’s Queensway-Carleton Hospital, Hamilton’s Woodward Avenue waste water treatment plant and Markham’s district energy system.  These four profiles demonstrate the wide range of applications -- and the many benefits -- of CHP systems.

These four institutions are really pointing toward the future of energy – high efficiency, appropriate scale, low environmental impact – while illustrating the many advantages of moving away from the mega-project mentality that all too often still drives our energy thinking in Ontario.

The fact sheet is available on our website at www.cleanairalliance.org/chp_institutions.  You may also order copies of it, along with some of our other materials, at http://www.cleanairalliance.org/get_involved_order_pamphlets.